IPL 6: Match 14 - DD vs SRH - Delhi Daredevils preview

The Daredevils come in to the match against the Sunrisers with everything going against them. They have lost all three matches on the trot, and instead of the usual failure in the play-offs, it looks like they won’t even make it there. It’s ironic that a team often regarded as the group stage bullies has looked like a scrawny kid getting tossed around the school-yard.

Their batting hasn’t been too bad; in two of the matches they reached 160, though the Knight Riders made a mockery of them, dismissing them for just 128. Their opening pair has not been good, with Unmukt Chand being dismissed for a first ball duck twice. Warner has been quite the opposite, scoring over 150 runs at a very good rate. The middle order hasn’t performed well at all, aside from a 49 from Manprit Juneja in the last match. With Sehwag still out, a large amount of pressure has been on Warner and Jayawardane.

The bowling has been found wanting in all matches, conceding over 500 runs at 8.5 runs an over. That means conceding 170 runs in a full innings. In addition to that, they have only picked up 16 wickets. Not remotely close to ideal. With the coming of Morne Morkel in the previous match, the bowling attack was expected to be strengthened, though he did a lot more with the bat than the ball. Nehra has been their only bowler to get wickets in all three matches, and desperately needs some strong support from the other end. Shahbaz Nadeem has been leading the spin attack, and needs to get some wickets under his belt to give the team their first win.

Conditions

It’s going to be hot. It’s Delhi in April, and there isn’t any other possibility, though there will be some wind to provide the players with some relief. The Delhi pitch should be scoring as usual, so the bowlers shouldn’t be surprised if they go for around 8 an over.

Key Players

David Warner- Warner has been the only batsman who has looked like troubling the bowlers regularly. He’s scored well and has led the batting from the front. For the sake of the Daredevils, I hope he scores again.

Morne Morkel- He didn’t have a dream start to this year’s IPL, but he can run through a batting attack when in the mood. He can also provide some lower-order fire-power, and god knows Delhi need that.

Strategy

Both chasing and setting targets has been unsuccessful for them, but they have the power to decimate any bowling attack. So if they win the toss, they should bat first, take advantage of the powerplay and then hope that their bowlers can defend that.

Possible XI

The order, though unsuccessful, will probably remain unchanged, though I think Naman Ojha should be brought back in instead of Jeevan Mendis. Maybe Roelof Van der Merwe could be given a game.

Chand, Warner, Jayawardane (C), Juneja, Mendis/Naman Ojha (wk)/Van der Merwe, Pathan, Jadhav, Nadeem, Morkel, Nehra, Yadav